Verses vs Versus

During recent internet travels, I was reminded of two more words that are often misused - verses and versus.

The word verse is most commonly used as a noun.  Books of the Bible are broken down into chapter and verse, and a poem (or part of a poem) can be referred to as a verse.

Verse is occasionally used as a verb, i.e., something that is written in verse.

The word versus, more commonly abbreviated as vs, means two things in opposition, i.e, two sportsmen or teams  (Frazier vs Foreman, or Packers vs Vikings), or a legal battle (State of Ohio vs Joe Schmuckatelli, or in the case of a divorce, Jones vs Jones).  It is a preposition so links two nouns, and can't be used as a verb.

Verses is the plural form of verse.  Although it sounds similar, versus cannot be plural, nor past or future tense; it's always versus or vs.

You would be incorrect to say "My team will verse my cousin's team next week".  (One of my sons often used it in that sense when he was a youngster and it made me cringe.  I hope he knows better now).  

Does Proper Use of Allude Elude You?

I often do a double-take when I find words being misused while on my internet travels, but it does provide fodder for a quick blog post.  Today's post touches on allude and elude, which sound alike, but have very different meanings.  If you often confuse these two words, hopefully this post will help make it 'stick'.

Equally Yolked

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Another pet peeve, although this one I don't see too often, is misuse of the words yoke and yolk.

Double Yolk = Yoked?

A yoke is something put around the neck of oxen or other beasts of burden when they are hitched to a plow or wagon.  The term equally yoked is used in another sense to say that a Christian's mate should also be a believer, so as not to work against each other.

Misused Words – Moot and Mute

I often see writers mistakenly use the word mute when they mean moot.  The words aren’t pronounced the same and of course have different meanings, so I’m not sure why the confusion.

(photo by rvstsks)

Moot rhymes with boot.
Mute rhymes with cute.

Mute means absence of speaking, unable to talk.

Someone who is deaf/mute can’t hear or speak.
You might mute the volume on the television if it’s distracting.

Moot in the legal sense means subject to debate or arguable, however recent use generally means irrelevant, of no consequence, i.e., moot point.

If you already know the proper use of moot and mute, this is a moot post.

Misused Words: Jam and Jamb

I found myself in a jam this morning when trying to think of a topic for this blog for J-day in the A-Z challenge, so there was my answer - jam and its homophone, jamb.

Since they're pronounced alike, jam and jamb might be misused when writing, but they have very different definitions.  Jam is the more common of the two and has several meanings, and is a noun as well as a verb.

Photo by LazySunday

If you're in a tight spot, you're in a jam.
You can jam something into a small space.
Grandma's homemade jam is great on toast.
Grab your guitar for a jam session with the guys.
A traffic jam is a commuter's nightmare.

Photo by clshearin

A jamb is the vertical part of a door frame, a noun probably more familiar to those who write home improvement articles.

You might bust your knuckles on a door jamb will moving furniture.

Thanks to jam and jamb for getting me out of a jam today.